For the Very Last Time
by LadyTuaramandil
Summary: She thought she hated her, she thought she wanted to be free. She knew the others loved this girl, that they would make the sacrifice in a heartbeat to protect the crybaby blonde, but the mer-spirit could not allow this. One-shot based on chapter 384.


**A/N:** LOOK I WROTE SOMETHING!

To those following A Demon and Her Dragon, I have the next chapter like half-written, I promise, I'm just having trouble with pacing and figuring out how to layout the events. I also have another story I'm working on to run alongside that one, so stay tuned!

Anyway, HAVE SOME FEEELS!

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_"I love you, Aquarius…"_

The cerulean haired mer-spirit felt her body dissipate, a feeling she was all too familiar with and usually reveled in.

But not this time.

As her physical form began to break down into sparkling fragments, floating up to the sky to re-materialize in her own world, Aquarius could not help but feel more than just her body disappearing. The human world, the world she had no love for, began to fade into white light…

_For the very last time._

Her cold blue eyes turned to the sobbing girl beside her. Blonde disheveled hair, stained with blood, sweat, dirt, and whatever else was in this rank and literal hellhole, hung over tightly clenched eyes, streaming with tears. The spirit smirked slightly- That girl was such a crybaby. Lucy was so fond of summoning her from strange places that the bluenette was actually shocked that the blonde had never tried to summon her from her own tears.

Tears…

The mer-spirit felt liquid bubbling from her sapphire orbs as warmth filled her chest. She had known this little brat her whole life, and never thought anything of it- Certainly she never wanted her to die, but her existence had otherwise been a hindrance. Yet now that she was truly seeing Lucy for the last time, Aquarius could not stop everything going through her mind and heart all at once.

Lucy, the little girl who had smiled with delight the first time she had seen the scaly-tailed woman. After all, she loved fairy tales, and what little girl didn't love mermaids?

A very rare, genuine smile crept over her lips as the salty droplets from her eyes mixed into her own magic water.

"Thank you for everything, Lucy."

* * *

Next thing she knew, Aquarius was back in the spirit world. She materialized into the ethereal lake (specifically there for her) in the Hall of the Stars, where all the spirits gathered during large battles in order to strategize and watch what was happening with their key holders. It was a large Greco-Roman esque domed structure in which the foundation and walls were made up entirely of softly glowing glass-like material. Like most of the spirit world everything was dotted with stars and constellations, and magic quite literally moved through the air in visible yet transparent colored forms.

She instantly noticed the large empty throne at the front center of the hall and bit her lower lip. The mer-spirit gazed around at her fellow Golden Spirits all nursing their wounds, save for those who had not been summoned yet. Gemini, Capricorn, Cancer, and her beloved Scorpio were all in the area too, clearly aware of the intense battle going on and trying to get as much information from their fellow spirits about the battle as possible should they be called to their master's aid. Even Pisces and Libra were there- Though they could not be summoned by Lucy, they still knew the importance of this battle and how much it was affecting their ten comrades, and now, for the first time, their King had been pulled into the fray.

Suddenly, all eyes were upon her, wide with shock, all lips parted in breathless gasps. Everyone stayed deathly still for a moment that felt like eternity. Though she liked to flaunt herself, Aquarius absolutely hated this kind of attention- Lucy crying all the time was bad enough, but having all of her own Zodiac comrades give her these puppy eyed stares…

The mer-spirit turned away, running her palm over her eyes to remove the tears but then sliding it to flip her hair back, as if that was all she was doing.

The silence was deafening. Even though they said nothing, she knew what they were all thinking. She grit her teeth momentarily before forcing a haughty smirk.

"Lucy will be able to take care of it all now and, as an added bonus, I never have to see her pathetic sniveling boyfriend-less face again."

Their expressions did not change- her bluff was all too obvious to all of them. Tired and embarrassed by the pathetic looks on their faces, she moved forward, her snake-like tail guiding her easily through the celestial body of water. As she passed Loke, however, the lion spirit grabbed her arm gently.

"You purposely waited until Aries and I were gone, didn't you?"

The bluenette stopped in her path, not daring to turn her eyes towards him.

Seeing that he would get no response, the golden lion continued, griping her bare upper arm more tightly. "You didn't want Virgo or I to consider that…"

Forcing her voice to remain steady, Aquarius replied in a low voice. "Lucy loves all of the spirits, but you and Virgo, of all of us, have the strongest bond with her. Even though she only acquired you both less than a year ago by her skewed time, the connection between her and each of you is the most powerful."

Loke lowered his head, trying to fight back his tears. Virgo, her normally emotionless face wrought with worry, cut in. "Which was why you didn't want us to be there when you made that suggestion… Because we both would know that our keys, because of our bond with Lucy, would summon the king without fail… You didn't want us to make that sacrifice, because…" The pink-haired maid stopped, her eyes welling up with rare tears. "You knew how much we love Lucy…"

At this, Loke released his grip on Aquarius' arm and pulled the pink-haired maid into a gentle hug. The mer-spirit glanced briefly at the duo, a soft and sad smile fluttering briefly over her lips before she resumed swimming forward. Truthfully, Aquarius didn't want _any_ of the other spirits to make that sacrifice, they all absolutely loved and adored Lucy and visa versa, but the fact that Virgo and Leo were the ones summoned at the time made it_ that_ _much_ _more_ important that she be the one to do this.

As she made her way towards her own private room within the Hall of the Stars, Aquarius stopped briefly in front of the glowing door. Her astrological sign shone brightly on the entrance, and she wondered if this room would stay here or vanish once the King returned and the battle was over. Would she no longer be able to enter the Hall of the Stars altogether?

She opened the ethereal door and entered her room, and just as she was in she heard the door softly close behind her. Turning around in slight confusion, she was met with the face she needed to see most.

Wasting no time at all, Scorpio stepped forward, large tanned arms outstretched. In one swift movement, the insectoid man pulled the bluenette into a warm and tight embrace, burying his face into hair and gently whispering into her ear.

"We are all proud of you, my love, and so grateful for your sacrifice… We are…"

Aquarius felt the tears welling up in her eyes, more so than before. There was no need to put up a strong front, not around him. The water bearer wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest, her element pouring from her eyes as her body slumped shakily into his.

* * *

As they lay in bed, their tails curled together, Aquarius couldn't help but think about how frustrating it would be not to be able to yell at Lucy herself the next time the blonde pulled her boyfriend away in the middle of a date.

* * *

**A/N:** So I believe Lucy loves all her spirits equally and vice versa, but I can't help but feel that she shares a much stronger connection to both Loke and Virgo than to her other spirits, namely because she interacts with them more and knows them pretty well outside of battle. She knew Loke before his identity was revealed, and Virgo often just hangs out with her. Both Loke and Virgo are the spirits she turns to most for strategy and help outside of just needing raw power. Not only that, but they actually conspire together to mess with her and both seem to take a lot of enjoyment from it. You don't really see this with the other spirits- Capricorn does to some extent, but he's more like a teacher or guardian rather than her buddy, and Gemini does but it doesn't feel as personal and connected as it does with Virgo and Loke do it. Loke and Virgo really do feel like Lucy's spirit BFFS. Oh, and credit for the last sentence goes to sakuras-iron-fist on tumblr.

ANYWAY I hope you all enjoyed the story! Please please let me know what you think in a review!


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